Doctor Who: Dark Eyes 2
Ratings1
Average rating4
15
Ratings1
Average rating4
When the Doctor defeated the Dalek Time Controller and its Time Lord ally, the timelines shifted and events changed... but the danger is far from over. And new threats to the continued safety of the universe are emerging.
Molly O'Sullivan carried on with her life as a nursing assistant in World War One. She probably thought she would never see the Doctor in his 'Tardy-box' again... From the Dalek occupied planet Nixyce VII through Earth's history and to the very edge of the universe, the Doctor's footprints across eternity are being tracked by foes old and new. But when did it all begin and when will it end? Living his life through the complexities of time travel, the Doctor can never be quite sure if he's experiencing his life in the most helpful order. The only certainty appears to be the advance of the powers of evil and the oncoming threat of a fight to the death against forces that would destroy everything the Doctor holds dear.
Series
4 primary booksDark Eyes is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2012 with contributions by Karina Halle, Matt Fitton, and John Dorney.
Series
28 released booksThe Eighth Doctor Adventures is a 28-book series first released in 2008 with contributions by Nicholas Briggs, Jonathan Morris, and 16 others.
Reviews with the most likes.
While this is, like its predecessor, a single, 4-hour story, it doesn't initially feel much like one, with each of the first three 60 minute “episodes” within it seeming to be distinct. This may be partly because each 60-minute segment has a different main writer, but there's also the fact that they aren't told in chronological order from the Doctor's perspective, so that the connection between the first two isn't apparent until the end of the final one.
It should be noted, though, that the story does take place in chronological order from the perspective of the companions, and that it isn't at all difficult to follow in that respect. Effectively, we start with a flash-forward, and then we (and the companions) spend the rest of the story trying to figure out how we got there, and why the Doctor was doing what he was doing. It's a more sophisticated and plot-justified version of those TV episodes that start with something dramatic and inexplicable happening and then suddenly state “24 hours previously...“
We start on a planet under Dalek occupation, where we are re-introduced to Liv Chenka, a medical technician who previously appeared in the 7th Doctor audio-play Robophobia, and is played by Olivier Award-winning actress Nicola Walker. By itself, it's a fairly straightforward Dalek story, with the only apparent connection to Dark Eyes being the use of the same Dalek commander. In the context of the next three episodes, however, it's both more connected and more significant than it first appears.
Each of the remaining “episodes” brings back a different preexisting villain from the Big Finish canon, most notably (because he's on the cover) the Alex MacQueen version of the Master. There's a different setting for each, too, and we're well over half-way through before the disparate parts begin to come together, and the big picture becomes clearer. In this respect, I felt that the last episode worked best, as we finally move towards the point where we came in - meeting a particularly scary optometrist along the way.
While the story improves as it goes along, and the nature of the over-arcing threat becomes apparent, it doesn't work quite as well as the original Dark Eyes story. Even though there are more connections than there at first seem to be, it isn't as cohesive as the original, and, perhaps because she's no longer the sole companion, Molly doesn't quite have the same chance to shine (although, when she does, she's still very good).
The original was, of course, self-contained, so this sequel has to squeeze in a reason as to why it now has another three “seasons” (counting this one). That works well enough, and, this time round, any such problem is avoided for the future by ending the final part on a cliffhanger. You can listen to Dark Eyes on its own, but you can't do the same with this one.
